2.11 Code of Conduct

Contents

1. Introduction   
2. Draft Code of Conduct for Social Care Workers in England
3. Draft Code of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers 

1. Introduction

The General Social Care Council will regulate the workforce by publishing Codes of Conduct and Practice for all social care workers and their employers and by registering the social care workforce.

The Code of Conduct for workers will set down the standards of conduct expected of social care workers.  It will ensure that workers know what is expected of them and that the public know what standards of conduct they can expect from care workers.  The Code of Practice for employers will set out how employers should meet their responsibilities for managing and supporting their staff and ensuring that they do their jobs well.

All social care workers will be expected to meet the code and any serious failure to do so will be dealt with by employers and in the case of registrants may lead to investigation and action by the Council.

The Council will operate in a manner that recognises the rights and responsibility of employers and avoids duplication of processes or procedures.  It will normally only deal with cases when employers have concluded complaints and disciplinary procedures and removal from the register or the setting of additional conditions on registration need to be considered.

More information about the work that has been done to date to establish the General Social Care Council can be found at their website. Alternatively, if you have any specific enquiries, please contact:

General Social Care Council
Goldings House
2 Hay’s Lane
London SE1 2HB

Tel: 020 7397 5800
Fax: 020 7397 5834
Email: info@gscc.org.uk

2. Draft Code of Conduct for Social Care Workers in England

Purpose

The purpose of this code is to set down the conduct expected of social care workers and to inform service users and the public of the standards of conduct they can expect from social care workers.  Social care workers are responsible for ensuring that their conduct does not fall below the standards set out in this code and that they safeguard the well-being of service users.

2.1 Social care workers must to the best of their ability:

1. Safeguard and promote the interests of service users and carers
2. Strive to maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers
3. Respect the independence of service users and protect them as far as possible from danger or harm
4. Balance the right of service users and carers with the interests of society
5. Take responsibility for their practice and learning
6. Justify public trust and confidence in social care services

2.2 As a social care worker you must safeguard and promote the interests of service users and carers. 

This includes:

1. Supporting people’s rights to control their lives and make choices about the services they receive
2. Listening to, respecting and, where appropriate, promoting the views and wishes of service users and carers
3. Valuing and treating each person as an individual
4. Respecting and maintaining the dignity and privacy of service users and carers

2.3 As a social care worker you must strive to maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers. 

This includes:

1. Being honest and trustworthy
2. Communicating in an open, accurate and straightforward way
3. Being reliable and dependable
4. Honouring as far as possible work, commitments, agreements and arrangements
5. Declaring conflicts of interest and striving to ensure that they do not influence your judgment or practice

2.4 As a social care worker you must respect the independence of service users and protect them, as far as possible, from danger or harm. 

This includes:

1. Challenging dangerous, abusive, discriminatory or exploitative behaviour and using established processes and procedures to report it
2. Taking complaints seriously and responding to them or passing them to the appropriate person
3. Respecting confidential information and gaining permission from those it concerns to share it for specific reasons, e.g. consultation with Managers or other members of the Care Team.  Disclosures of confidential information without consent should be made only where they can be justified in the public interest (usually where disclosure is essential to protect the service user or someone else from risk of death or serious harm) or, where disclosure is required by law or order of a Court
4. Recognising the potential for power imbalances in working relationships with service users and carers and using authority in a responsible manner
5. Following practice and procedures designed to keep you and other people safe from violent and abusive behaviour at work

2.5 As a social care worker you must, to the best of your ability, balance the rights of service users and carers with the interests of society. 

This includes:

1. Taking necessary steps to prevent service users from doing actual or potential harm to themselves of other people
2. Balancing the rights of service users whose behaviour represents a risk to themselves or other people with the paramount interest of public safety

2.6  As a social care worker you must take responsibility, wherever possible, for your practice and learning. 

This includes:

1. Working openly and co-operatively with colleagues and other professionals, recognising their roles and expertise and treating them with respect
2. Adhering to legal requirements and relevant standards of practice, and promoting and maintaining good practice
3. Being free from the influence of alcohol and drugs (other than proper use of proprietary or prescribed medicines) while at work
4. Informing your employer or the appropriate authority, about any physical, mental, emotional or legal difficulties that might affect your ability to do your job competently and safely
5. Undertaking learning, training and development, wherever possible, to continually improve your knowledge and skills and ensure that you work, in a lawful, safe and effective manner
6. Being responsible for the quality of your work and contributing to the learning and development of others
7. Informing your employer or the appropriate authority if you do not feel competent to carry out any aspect of your work and seeking necessary supervision and training
8. Dealing, as far as is reasonable, with the concerns of colleagues about their ability to carry out work you have delegated to them

2.6 As a social care worker you must justify public trust and confidence in social care services. 

You must not:

1. Abuse, neglect or harm service users or carers
2. Exploit service users, carers or colleagues, sexually, physically, emotionally, financially or in any other way
3. Abuse the trust of service users and carers or the access you have to their property, home or workplace
4. Discriminate unlawfully against service users, carers or colleagues for any reason or condone any such discrimination on their part
5. Put yourself or other people at unnecessary risk
6. Accept personal gifts from service users or their carers, or gifts or payments from any service providers that would, or might appear to, place you under an obligation
7. Behave in a manner that might damage the reputation of social care or social work, or reduce the trust and confidence of the public.  Dishonest, indecent, violent or abusive behaviour even if not directly connected to your work practice, may call into question your suitability to work in social care

3. Draft Code of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers

Purpose

This code sets down the responsibilities of employers in the regulation of social care workers.  The purpose of workforce regulation is to safeguard and promote the interests of service users and carers.  The code is intended to complement rather than replace or duplicate existing departmental or agency policies and it forms part of the wider package of legislation, requirements and guidance that relate to the employment of staff.  The Regulatory Authority will regulate the adherence of social care employers to this code.

3.1 To meet their responsibilities in relation to the regulation of the social care workforce, social care employers must:

1. Use rigorous recruitment and selection processes focused on making sure that only people who are suitable and competent to provide social care are allowed to enter the workforce
2. Make required checks of police records, relevant registers and indexes and check that people are physically capable of carrying out the duties of the job they have been selected for, before confirming their appointment
3. Inform social care staff about the Council’s code of conduct for social care workers and their personal responsibility to adhere to that code
4. Give staff clear information about their roles and responsibilities, and the legislation and organisational policies and procedures they must follow in their work
5. Regularly supervise and effectively manage staff to support good practice and professional development and to address any deficiencies in their performance
6. Provide training and development opportunities to help staff to do their jobs and to strengthen and develop their skills and knowledge
7. Contribute to the provision of social care and social work education and training, and provide properly resourced and managed workplace assessment and opportunities for practice learning
8. Assist staff in posts subject to registration to meet the Council’s eligibility criteria for registration and its requirements for continuing professional development
9. Promote and implement practice policies and procedures for staff welfare and equal opportunities, and make it clear to staff that bullying and harassment are not acceptable in the workplace
10. Make it clear to service users and carers that violence, threats or abuse to staff are not acceptable and have clear policies and procedures for preventing violence and managing violent incidents
11. Support and offer appropriate assistance to staff whose work is affected by ill health or dependency on drugs or alcohol, and give clear guidance about any limits on their work while they are receiving treatment
12. Provide procedures which encourage and enable staff to report unsafe, incompetent or abusive behaviour, and deal with such reports promptly and openly
13. Check whether social care staff who are the subject of disciplinary proceedings have followed the Council’s code of conduct for workers
14. Inform the Council about any serious breaches of its code of conduct for workers by staff who are registrants and inform the staff involved that a report has been made to the Council
15. Co-operate with Council investigations and hearings and respond appropriately to the findings and decisions of the Council
16. Make service users and carers aware of this code and the code of conduct for social care workers and inform them about how to contact the Council in relation to the codes

End